Manufacturers of optical reader systems seek new and improved optical reader systems that can be used to interrogate, for example, a resonant waveguide grating biosensor to determine if a biomolecular binding event (e.g., binding of a drug to a protein; stimulus induced changes in live cells) occurred on a surface of the biosensor. Of interest are improved scanning systems and methods having reduced vibrations and resonances, and having generally improved quality and efficiency of the biosensor readings obtained from the biosensor scanning.